Door-actuating mechanism for general-service cars.



w. 511110111311. DOOR ACTUATlNG MECHANISM FOR GENERAL SERVICE'fiARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. \3, 19M.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

H 3 SHEETSSHEET l'.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 13,19l4.

I w C I If f?) Q Z3 Wl/ xzfi W. E. MOREY.

DOOR ACTUATING MCHANISMAFOR GENERALSERVICE CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13. 19M.

1 1 75,1 65 Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. Mom, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssI'GNoR 'ro NATIONAL 1am on.comrm, A oonromrron or MAINE.

DOOR-ACTUATING- MECHANISM FOR GENERAL-SERVICE CARS.

- a al puammn ,191 Serial No. 824,509,

To all whom/it mayaoncema, H 7

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. MOBEY, a citizen of theUnitedStates,residingat .Chl-

cago, in the, county of Cook'and, State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and use anism for General- Service Carsfo whichthefollowingis-a specification.

- LMy invention relates in generalte cars, and more particularly todoonactuat ing mechanism for freight-cars of thej ;type f known as generalservicecars.

The practicability of general service cars depends largely upon the,efiiciency of vthe mechanism for voperating the 'drop doors which formthe principal part hegca'r floor. It. :1 is desirable. that theoperating mechanism-1;should,tightly close to j. p e nt l kag 10 h ad ngs ilf curely support the doer ilkclosed PQSltlOIll fsupportingdeyic s.

so as to: avoid accidental durnping" of'" the lading; and shouldpermitthe dropping of the doors to discharge thezlading. It 1s furg'; therdesirable that. the dooroperating mech'; j

anism should-i-be-strong and durable incon-j g I n p p which m b of nyitablecon r struction and at the same timevsimplein op- ,eration,

, weightof the doors when closed and of the; load on them will not beimposed uponthe chains, but will besustained by au'tomati v r gpivo'tally supported by hinges iG n the efenter'sill; The "door'F isada'pte '-t0 be fswung upwardly about its inner edge into a f closedposition flush with the pl'ane of' the The primary of invention .is

drop floor doorsj actuated by" ohainsconnected with rotary shafts, inwhich the A further object of my invention is to" provide aufreight carof the character re'' ferred to in which the operationiof the. ro

tary shafts in closing the doors will'permit the automatic actuation ofsupporting de: depends below the fl0or lev el and'is' riveted totheadjace'nt end of the bolsteriforto the 7 adjacent endof'one of thetrans verse memvices to engage and sustain 'the'doors when closedindependently of thefrota ry shafts .and the chains connected thereto,and in drop to open positions.

\ provide door operating and supporting mechanism for the drop doors offreight cars which will be simple in construction,

convenient in operation, and efficient in use; I My invention will bemore fully disclosed I hereinafter with reference to the accomf panyingdrawings in which the same einh Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

such, ,"fibi" instance,"

ft' peL- provide a freight ear. of the type having] A of the bolster and0 one of the" cross bearers which the rotary shafts will disengage suchdevices from the 'doorsto; permit them to Patented Mar. 1916.

and in whichv v a Figure 1 is a side v elevational view'of a vportionofone end of a' freight car equipped wlth' my invention, parts beingbroken ful Improvements in Door-Actuatm Mech away; Fig. 2 an enlargeddetail sectional new i of one end of "one of the transverse 3 1: F g 2;g ft. nlarged -cr'o,s s 1 "sec tional view showing: a door inopen:position;

Fig. 1 a detail, sectional yiew showing: the doonm partiall" isedpositijenfbefore the he h 1 l *s pPQ ti new similamei Fig.1 e showingafslighfly modified form us r, supporting device;

of one of the w r ha r ,ifiindijcat'esith endsi'llf'of the car,' B' oneor transversemenibers of the und'erfra'me.

D designates onefof the end" walls "of'the ear-{and E Qne'of the sidewalls} i J F indicates one of the'drop doorswhichis floor of'the car,orto'be swung downwardly,

to the position shown in Fig. 4.

H designates one of the side stakes-which hers "C; as well as" to* a"-reinforcing flanged s e'cu rd v the? tr verse member-i" c a for rotatingtheshaft and holding it in positions to which maybe rotated. Four of Iadjacent ends of sleeves L, L through such shafts are usually provided,two on each side of the car, extending from the opposite ends of the carto the transverse center thereof. Pairs of chains I connect the shafts Jwith the swinging edges of the adjacent drop doors F, any suitable meansbeing provided for connecting the chains with the drop doors adjacenttheir opposite sides, such for instance as eye-bolts i adjustablysecured to brackets F fixed to the under surfaces of the doors.

A car of the construction above described is one well-known and does notin itself embody myinvention, but is merely illustrated and-described inorder that the construction and operation of my improved door actuatingmechanism may befully disclosed. It will be obvious that my inventionmay be applied to cars of other specific constructions than that abovedescribed.

A bearing plate K is secured to the vertical web of each of thetransverse members C at each end thereof, such platesbeing within thelaterally projecting marginal flange 0 around the web of the transversemember. Each bearing plate K is provided with a cylindrical portionwhich projects through an opening in the web of the transverse member towhich it is secured. Rotatably supported within each of the cylindricalportions 7:: of the bearing plate K are the which the shaft J extends.The cross section of shaft J is preferably angular and the openingsthrough the sleeves correspond.

, in cross section so that the sleeves are nonrotatably mounted upon theshaft. In order to prevent longitudinal movement of the sleeves upon theshaft suitable fastening devices, such for instance as bolts Z, are provided.

Rigidly secured on the ends of the sleeves L, L adjacent the oppositesides of the cylindrical bearing is, are eccentrics Z, Z such eccentricsbeing preferably formed integrally with the sleeves upon which they aremounted. Rigidly secured to each end of each of the transverse membersof the car frame is a bracket M comprising front and side flanges whichsurround the adjacent end of the transverse underframe member, and alsosurround the adjoining portion of the reinforcing bracket C. Eachbracket M is provided with a lower wall which underlies and is rigidlysecured to the lower flanges of the transverse member of the underframeand the adjacent reinforcing bracket. cured to the car frame, .andpreferably also to the lower ends of the car stakes H, as shown in Figs.1 to 7 A bolt or rod m eX- tends through the side walls of each bracketM and serves as a fulcrum for the lower ends of the oscillatingsupporting devices N and N Each of the supporting devices The brackets Mare rigidly eor latches N, N is provided with an elongated opening Nthrough which the shaft J passes, and which permits the free oscillationof the latches relatively to the shaft. Each of the latches N, N is alsoprovided with a lug n which overlies the adjacent eccentric Z or Z andis engaged by such eccentric to oscillate the supporting device. Each ofthe supporting devices N, N is also provided with a projection 12,extending toward the edge of-the adjacent door and adapted. to oscillateinto the path of such door after it has been closed.

In order to insure the oscillation of each of the supporting devices N,N beneath the edge of the adjacent door after it has been closed, atripping device 0 is provided which may be conveniently fulcrumed on .abracket 0 secured to the inwardly inclined plate 6 formingvthe lowerportion of the side wall of the car. The tripping devices 0 aline withthe supporting devices and are provided with ends 0 which overlieshoulders n on the supporting devices. Each tripping device 0 depends atits opposite end into the path of the upper surface of the door so as tobe oscillated through engage ment with the door. when the latter iscompletely closed. In lieu of the tripping device 0 other means may beprovided for insuring the oscillation of thesupporting devices into doorsupporting positions, such for instance as a spring S interposed betweeneach door supporting device and the underlying lateral flange on theadjacent transverse car frame member, as shown in Fig. 7. The ends ofthe spring engage studs .9 and 8 the latter being on the supporting.

device and the former on the flange of the transverse underframe member.

The operation of my improved door actu-- ating mechanism is as follows:When the doors are in the open position shown in Fig.-

0f the door, as shown in Fig. 6. The oscillation of the supportingdevices into their door supporting positions is insured by means of thetripping devices 0, the inner ends 0 of which are engaged by the uppersurfaces of the doors as they are closed, so that such devices areoscillated and their outer ends 0 through engagement with theprojections n on the supporting devices positively oscillate suchdevices into door supporting position with their pro ectlons 'n beneaththe doors so as to support them independently of the rotary shaft andchains. The springs S shown in modification illustrated in Fig. 7operate to positively oscillate the supporting devices to project'thecams n thereon beneath the doors after the doors have been lifted intoclosed position. When it is desired to lower the doors the shaft J isrotated in a direction to permit the chains to unwind. The initialrotation of the shaft J in a direction to unwind the chains causes theportions of the eccentrics Z and Z having the greater radius to engagethe overlying lugs n on the supporting devices N and N and to therebyoscillate such devices outwardly so as to remove the cam projections 11.thereon from beneath the outer edges of the doors, thereby permittingthe doors to drop by gravity. In Fig. 7 the latch is shown in theposition to which it has been oscillated by the cam against the tensionof the spring S so that the door is free to drop. The relation of theeccentrics Z and Zto the shaft J is such that in raising the doors theshorter radius of the eccentrics is opposite the lugs n on thesupporting devices at the time the doors are approaching closedposition. The extent of the surface of shorter radius of the ecentric issuch as to permit a sufficient latitude in the rotation of the shaft tocompensate for any stretching in the chains, so that the doors will becompletely closed before the portions of the eccentrics of great-estradius engage the lugs on the supporting devices. Should, however, theportion of the door to which each chain is connected be not completelyclosed, it will still be supported inasmuch as the projection n on eachlocking device will swing beneath the outer edge of the door before thedoor has been completely closed. The position of the door supportingdevices relatively to the doors and to their pivotal connection with thecar frame is such that the weight transmitted by the doors to suchdevices does not tend to disengage the supporting devices from thedoors, but on the other hand a tendency of the weight of the doors toswing the supporting devices about their points of pivotal supportserves to more tightly retain the doors in closed position.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have inventedan improved door actuating mechanism for freight cars by means of whichthe drop doors are firmly supported in closed position independently ofthe door raising and lowering mechanism, thereby relieving suchmechanism of the load supporting strains, such strains being transmitteddirectly to the car frame through supporting devices automaticallyactuated by the door raising and lowering mechanism in its normaloperation in raising and lowering the doors. 7

While I have described my invention with more or less minuteness and asbeing embodied in certain precise forms, yet it will be understood thatI do not desire to limit myself thereto unduly, or any more than ispointed out in the claims. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper,changes in form, construction, and arrangement, the 7 5 omission ofimmaterial parts, and the substitution of equivalents, as circumstancesmay suggest or necessity render expedient.

I claim:

1. 'In a freight car, the combination with a downwardly swinging door,of a rotary shaft, chains connecting said shaft with the swinging edgeof said door to close the same, a movable door supportingdevice mountedupon the car frame and adapted to auto- 35 matically engage and supportsaid door when closed, said device having an opening through which saidshaft extends for permitting the movement of said device relatively tosaid shaft, and means for moving said device relatively to said shaftout of door supporting position actuated by the initial rotation of saidshaft in a direction to unwind the chains.

2. In a freight car, the combination with a downwardly swinging door, ofa rotary shaft, chains connecting said shaft with the swinging edge ofsaid-door to close the same, amovable door supporting device mountedupon the car frame and adapted to automatically engage and support saiddoor when closed, said device having an opening through which said shaftextends for permitting the movement of said device relatively to saidshaft, an eccentric fixed to said shaft, and a projection on said deviceextending into the path of said eccentric and engaged thereby to movesaid device out of door supporting position during the initial rotationof said shaft in a direction to un-. no wind the chains.

3. In a freight car, the combination with a downwardly swinging door ofa rotary shaft, chains connecting said shaft with the swinging edge ofthe door to close'the same, an oscillatory door-supporting device uponthe car frame, and means for automatically operating said device intopositions to support the door when closed, said means being actuatableby the closing movement of the door and comprising a pivoted member.

4;. In a freight car, the combination with a downwardly swinging door,of a rotary shaft, chains connecting said shaft with the swinging edgeof the door to close the same, an oscillatory door-supporting membermounted upon the car frame, said member being provided with a shoulder,and means for automatically oscillating said device into position tosupport the door when closed,

said means comprising a pivotally mounted In testimony whereof, I havesubscribed dog lillaViilcllg a portignfi arranged to coast with my name.thes ou ero sai rst-named mem er and a second portion projecting intothe path of WILLIAM MOREY' 5 movement of the door in such wise that theWVitnesses:

latter in its closing movement will actuate GEO. L. WILKES N, saidsupporting member. HENRY A. PARKS.

